Monitor Healthcare Ltd (MHL) Introduces Breast-i!

A very smart way to keep a close eye on your breast health.

Another great news from MHL

In collaboration with our UK partners, Monitor Healthcare is proud to introduce Breast-i to Nigeria.

Breast-i is a revolutionary self-use, portable, non-diagnostic screening device used to screen for cancerous lumps in the breast. It is a product of years of research and is in use the UK, USA, Asia and many other countries. Results from research on Breast-i use shows that its ability to accurately identify cancerous lumps in the breast is almost 9.5 out of 10!

This is great news for Nigeria.Breast cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide and the single largest killer of women as it occurs almost exclusively in women.

The loss of mothers, sisters and daughters impacts everyone. Only 2 out of every 5 women diagnosed with breast cancer will survive in Nigeria! In America and Japan a higher survival rate of 80% (4 out of 5 diagnosed) is recorded. It does not have to be this way.

We can save our women! The comparably higher breast cancer death rates in Nigeria is due to late presentation and diagnosis, due in part to a lack of effective early screening system in the country.

Early diagnosis increases survival rate from breast cancer. Breast-i works by identifying specific characteristics around cancer cell making it
unique. It can be used conveniently at home or shared in a group such as workplace clinic. Orderone today as a life-saving gift for your sister, mother, wife, friend or for your community or organization!

The use of BREAST-i is very simply illustrated by the images here. Undress and in a darkened room, sit leaning slightly forward and place the BREAST-i lens underneath your breast. You can view each breast by either looking down directly or using a mirror, or both. Look at the upper (superior) surface of each breast, which should be uniformly bright except perhaps for a few darker lines from superficial blood vessels. Move the lens of BREAST-i around slowly to examine the entire breast.

How BREAST-i is used in the home to inspect the breast

Look down at the breast or into a mirror

Light from the high intensity LEDs in BREAST-i is scattered through the breast tissues. This will normally reveal patterns of darker blood vessels while the skin is seen as a fairly uniform pink or reddish colour. The nipple is usually seen as a small dark circle. The areolar is a circular area around the nipple and is usually darker than the skin over the rest of the breast (in African women it can be very dark).

A dark area in the upper part of the left breast

A faint dark patch around enlarged blood vessels.

If you examine your breasts once per month with BREAST-i, you’ll become familiar with their appearance. Should any changes be noticed these may indicate presence of a lump or other breast condition. Once you are familiar with BREAST-i you can vary the views and examine the tail of your breast. Look for a dark area anywhere in the breast which wasn’t there before. Sometimes there are enlarged blood vessels which may produce a small dark patch (which can sometimes be faint) around them. If you see either of these, visit a doctor for advice and examination, and referral to hospital if necessary.

Light from BREAST-i is scattered through the breast and absorbed by angiogenesis if present.

The examination with BREAST-i can also be carried out by a doctor or surgeon.

What you will see with BREAST-i

Fig A: image captured with BREAST-i showing a normal breast with veins, appearing mainly bright in contrast to the following image.

Fig B: breast with mass about 4cm x 2cm recorded using BREAST-i. The dark area is caused by angiogenesis, and the blood vessels feeding it are obvious.

A typical normal breast is shown in Fig A and another with a lump (pathology) in Fig B (both images courtesy of Mammocare Ghana). Check your breasts once per month and if any dark areas appear which were absent previously, go to a GP and ask for a clinical examination and an opinion. The test is not diagnostic because dark shadows can appear not only because of the presence of a cancer, but also due to a blood-filled cyst or bruising. The images produced by BREAST-i remain the same over a long period of years, unless a lump develops.

A nurse or doctor can also use BREAST-i provided that they can darken their consulting room. A weak red light can be kept switched on in the corner of the room without hindering the examination.

Presently, photographic records are only done to provide examples for the user booklet. Photography of the breast during an examination can be quite difficult because only a small percentage of the incident light fromBREAST-i penetrates the breast tissues, so this requires a long exposure (typically half a second) and any movement of the breast will blur the image.

“My wife and several of her friends tried the device and they were amazed at what they could see with it. The light output is noticeably better than anything we have seen before. Contrast is good and discerning veins is easy…”

BREAST-i designer

“I have good news for you from Colombia. This week we open a new clinic in association with the Colombian Air Force. They are really excited with your device and they are helping everyone to get to know BREAST-i. I have to say that I did a try with the device and I'm really impressed with it, is perfect and easy to use…”

Importer to Colombia

“How very kind of you to send me your BREAST-i, so magnificently designed and made… You must feel very proud of it…”